Hardie Grant Egmont. Young Adult. Paperback RRP $22.95
Reviewer - Barbara Brown
Skin Deep’s byline
- Ugly people don’t have feelings –
explains the story behind this book. I felt sad and angry at the beginning but
then my emotions were taken on a trek up and down hills and valleys until my
journey ended in the last pages. This is a book I couldn’t put down.
Jenna is a fourteen year old who was disfigured in the car
crash which killed her best friend. She has been transformed from an average
pretty girl to a person that children gawk at and adults try not to notice. A
person that is stared at for all the wrong reasons.
After several months of staying at home recovering, Jenna
returns to school but not life as she knew it. People are mean and treat her
like a freak. She retreats further into her own world and it looks like she
will never come out.
But then Ryan arrives. A sixteen year old who travels the
waterways on a long boat living with his mother. Not usually accepted in the villages
and towns, Ryan has dealt with hatred and stares all his life. He hopes this
place will be different as he tries to integrate. He is honest and easily gets
his first paid job, which he loves. His mother said they may stay longer in
this lovely place. Ryan hopes so.
Ryan shows Jenna how to ignore and believe in herself. Jenna
shows Ryan how to love. Everything seems perfect. Jenna learns to cope with the
stares and Ryan learns to cope with his mother’s mood swings.
But then a body is found and all eyes look towards the
travelling boy.
Skin Deep encourages
you to guess. I thought I knew the murderer … but I was wrong. A book I would like
to see on the big screen.
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